However insurance giant warns city that revenue from its other housing businesses has “stopped” since March
Insurance giant Legal & General has re-opened its cutting-edge modular housing factory little more than a week after revealing it had temporarily closed it due to the coronavirus outbreak.
However, the firm said that construction work at all of its other housing businesses – which include £1.2bn turnover housebuilder Cala Homes, as well as affordable, later living and build to rent specialist businesses – had been put on hold, and that revenue had “stopped”.
The admission came within a first-quarter update to the City in which it said it was planning to raise money in order to advantage of new business opportunities in the current environment.
L&G said operating profit at its investment business LGC, in which all its housing activities are held, will be “down year on year”. The firm said: “LGC paused traditional construction operations and will restart as and when it is safe to do so”, and that “Revenue from house building has stopped since March.”
However, it added: “we have recently reopened our Modular Homes business with procedures to ensure the safety of our employees.”
The firm said it was continuing to pursue planning approvals, such as the Kingswood later living permission granted last week, which was “positioning us to continue investing in the UK and helping to meet the country’s need for affordable housing.”
Earlier this month an L&G spokesperson told Housing Today that the factory “is currently not operational”, with staff either working from home or accruing hours under a banked hours arrangement under which they work back the time when they return to work.
L&G’s decision to re-open its modular factory comes after three listed housebuilders – Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry – this week announced they were planning re-start sites works within the next fortnight.
The decision also comes after housing secretary Robert Jenrick urged other housebuilders to re-start site works. He said that he “hope[d] to see further housebuilders reopen shortly – once they’ve also worked through how to meet social distancing guidelines and protect their workforce.”
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